Malfunctioning Rocket Destroyed After Launch

OTHER NEWS TO NOTE - WEST

June 30, 1994

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, CALIF. — A Pegasus rocket was deliberately destroyed by remote control three minutes after launch because it malfunctioned. Also lost was a 767-pound satellite carrying Air Force experiments. Orbital Sciences Corp.'s Pegasus, strapped beneath the belly of a converted L-1011 aircraft, was carried aloft Monday. Shortly after the first stage separated from the booster, a steering malfunction and other problems surfaced, said J.R. Thompson of Orbital Sciences' launch systems group. ''For the first half-minute we thought we were off to a good start,'' he said. ''After that, something went wrong.'' An investigation was planned.